Boat



June 18, 1929. c. J. BAER ET AL 1.717.541

BOAT

Filed July 9, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Gwen-mg c. .1. BAER ET AL 1.717.541

BOAT

Filed July 9, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet) 5 J F J F J J E PW v June; 18, -l929.

June 18, 1929.

c. J. BA ER ET AL BOAT Filed July 9, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 BOAT FiledJuly 9, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 gwmmtoz c. J. BAER ET AL BOAT ' Filed July9, 1927 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 M w M 0 0 0 yMM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Z M 0 0 0 0 5?0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 t w 0 0 o d 0 u 0 0 0 0 Q QNLWWNMJ FatentedJune I 18, 1929.

UNITED STATES CARL J. BAER, or S LOUIS, MISSOURI, AND CARL F. JEFFRIES,orbcsrnorr,

q MICHIGAN, A

BOAT.

I Application filed July 9,

This invention relates to boat propulsion, and more particularlyto thepropulsion of high-powered boats used for towing purposes.

More specifically the invention embodies the utilization of novelendless chain propelling mechanisms, provided with perforated paddleelements possessing all of the advantages set forth in patent to BaerNo.

1,452,059, issued April 17, 1923. Said patent structure however, carrieda single row of propelling elementsfon each side of the boat,

whereas the present structure utilizes three .I

Another object of the invention is the provision of a boat equipped oneach side with a plurality of endless chain propellers, and

with means constantly and flexibly'supp'orting each of said chains.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means" forseparately controlling the operation of each of the propelling chains,including instrumentalities for operating any chain in a forward orreverse direction, and means for adjusting the tension 1 of said chain.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a guard or gratingprotecting the propelling mechanisms against becoming fouled or cloggedby floating articles.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an endlesschainpropelling mechanism equipped with paddle elements of suchconstruction that a broken paddle.

may be replaced with a minimum of time a and labor.

The means for accomplishing the'above and further objects of theinvention, will. be. made apparent in the following specifica tion, whenread in connection with the draw ings forming apart thereof.

In said drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tow-boat equipped.with our in vention.

1927. Seria1No. 204,54 2.

, Fig. 2 is afragmentary perspective view of a battery of propellingchains for one side of the boat. i A i PATENT OFFICE-.7

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the propelling chainsand itssupportingmech amsms;

Fig.4: is atop planview of a battery of three propelling chains. i

Fig. 5 is av perspective for regulating separate chains.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary'plan in section, of a portion pelling chains.

the tension on the several of one "of the provieW, partly view of themeans Fig. 7 is a sectionalview theiline 7+7 ofFig. 3.. s

Fig. 8 is'a section taken on the line 8-8 ofFig.6.

Fig. 9 is a I section taken on {the line of Fig.6.

Fig. 10" is a front plan View paddle element showing the chain andanidler wheel partly in section, and, i

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a bracket for supporting the paddleelement. L

Now referring specifically to thedrawings, 7 I

vso

in which similarfreference characters "indi catelike parts throughoutthe several views, I.

A is .a boat body, provided with a cabin B,

in which the motors and controlsare housed.

Extending transversely through the body" of theboat A,,below the deck,are sills'l,

of angle iron, formingthe mainsupports of a frame-work WhlCll carries 7the. pro-,'

pelling chains to be hereinafter described. Secured to the outer endsof'the centrally located sills 1, are metallic arches 2, which mayextend through the top of the cabin B, and a rail 3gextends inlongitudinal parallelism with the boat, and connects the outer endsoffthe fore andaftsills' "1, 1, on each u side, as clearly shown inFig. 1. v

Rigidly secured to the sills 1 and 1 on each side ofthe cabin B, areposts 4.4,

which are secured to the t-opfliorizontallyextending rails 5,5jof'trussmembers made:

up of said top rails 5, curved lower rails (3,. an intermediate rail 7and connecting posts 8, as best seen in Fig.3. It is to be under stoodthat parallel trussmembers composed of the rails 5, 6 and 7 connected bythe-"posts 8, and depending. from the "sills 'ltyaiid 1",

form supporting frames for the endless pro 55 its inner end journ aledin a bracket 24,

pelling chains, and that as many of such chains asd-esired may becarried on each side of the boatwheel 9 mounted on a shaft 10, iscarried by the front end of the supporting frame,

and anendless chainll is trained over said Wheel and also over a rearsprocket Wheel 12 mounted on a shaft 13. The chain 11. may be ofordinary construction but of great strength and is provided with pivotediinks having pivot pinssurrounded by antifrictionl rollers. Each chain11 carries a plurality of spaced paddle elements 14,

-boltedito the links as will be hereinafter explained, each paddle l4being'gprovided with a. plurality of perforations Wherebyto permit thepassage ofa portion of the water 7 therethrough, agreat advantage fullyexplained in our patent heretofore referred to.

The boat A is here illustrated as equipped on each sidei with .a batteryof three propelling chains and provided with partitions 15 whichseparate one chain; from the chain adjacent. .As shownmost clearly inFigs. and 4,'a drive chain 16 is trained over the jsprocketS, carriedbythe axle 10 f each of the chains'i-ll', whereby to rotate theshaft,

in either direction. 7 It is deemed unnecessary to hereillustrate themeans for rotating said shafts. i Obviouslya separate re- 'versiblemotor may be provided ,for the purpose of rotating. eachi shaft, wellknown clutch -mechanisms being interposed to per I mit rotation of saidshafts in either directioln f It, is to be understood that'sucli powcred mechanism would be provided as to be i capableofselectivelyrotating, any. shaft 10 in either direction, irrespective ofthe direction of shafts.

' In order totake up any undesirable slack in the'chain 11, each end ofthe shaft 13 of rearwardly in flat tracks formed between plates 18,18,.supported by the rear ends of parallel rails 7 ,"7. worm shaft 19,sup ported by a bracket 20, carried by the rail 7, is in screw-threadedengagement with an aperture in the nner'end of the bearing 17. The innerend of the shaft 19 carries a beveled ear 21in mesh with a .co-o erating beveled gear 22, mounted on the end of a transversely extendingshaft 23, having mounted on the rail 7. The outer end of the shaft '23will be provided with crank handle, for manual operation, or withmeans'we provide means, suchas a metallic cable with its associated block.

25, for supporting the chain llbetween the necessary idlerv rollers 26,and to thereby eliminate the destructive vertical vibrations AsSl1OWII'1Il'F1g.' 3, a driving sprocket of the chain during its travelat high speed. As will be hereinafter more specifically explainedjthecable 25 tracks in grooves formed in the idlers 26, on the" top flight,and--in sheaves 27, on the bottom flight. A

. plurality of the idler rollers 26 are mounted along the upper flightof-the chain, each roller. being mounted ona shaft 28, having bearing ina bracket 29, mounted on the rail The sheaves 27'arecarried by shafts30, having a.- vertically movable bearing threadedshaft 32, carryingabeveled gear 33 at its'upper end, said shaft extending through and inscrew-threaded engagement Extending transversely of the shafts 32, aretelescopically positioned operating shafts 34, 35 and 36, itbeing. notedthat each of said shafts 34,

'35 "and.36, is provided with beveled gears 37 meshing withthe gear 33carried on the vertical shafts 32, whereby a rotation of any of theshafts 34, 35 and 36, will cause a vertical movement of the associatedsheave 27, tQ tighten or loosen the chain 11. The

shafts and 36 oxtend outwardly. be-

yond the frame-worktowards the botdgA,

and the ends thereof projechone beyond the other, forthc "attachment ofhand levers 38, or. the end of each shaft-may be equipped with asprocket wheel and connected chain,

I l V p 7 whereby torotate the shafts by power from rotation; of any oneof the other the motor, as will be understood. Suitable ratchetmechanism will be provlded to re tain the shafts in any adjustedposition.

* Fig. 3 shows meansfor separately and auto inaticallv oreventin slackinthe cable25.

L l a Centrally of the frame, an idler 39. is mounted on a stub shaft40, having bearing in a block vertically slidable in a trackformed inthe central post 8. A coiled spring 40 rests upon the top of the bearingblock, and

' above the spring is provided a pressure plate 41, secured to theheaded bolt 42, screwthreaded into the top of the rail" 5. The 'cable25' is passed; around the lower portion of the idler, 30, and during thetravel of the chain 11 and cable 25, the idler39 rides upwardly anddownwardly in itsbearings, under control of the spring. 41. Anyadjustments to vary the tension of the spring may be-ma'de by rotationof the, bolt 42 Each paddle element 14 is preferably, though notnecessarily, formed of an elongated plate of metal, provided with aplurality of, perforations extending transversely therethrough, bestillustrated in Fig.

10. In the preferred embodiment hereillustrated the upper edgeof theplate 14 is cut away to provide for entry of the chain 11, and theperiphery'of the idlers 26 and the sheaves 27. In Fig. 11 is shown abracket 43 for securing thepaddle 14 to the-chain 11. The bracket ispreferably formed of oxidized steel,'and is substantially star-shaped,hav-* ing laterally and downwardlyextending bifurcated arms44, 45 and46, adapted to be bolted or riveted to the paddles 14, and very strongdiverging upright arms 46, 46, perforated to permit the insertion ofbolts 47, which secure the arms 46 to the edges ofthe cut away portionof the paddle l4. Formed on the lower portion of each of the arms 46,46, are laterally-extending integral braces 48, 48, perforatedto receivebolts .49, 49, whereby to secure the paddle to suitable portions of thelinks of the chain 11.

and 11.

, Each battery of vchainsis protected by a guard structure composed,inpart, of spaced rods, the structure completely enveloping the chains ateachend, as well as laterally and below. Asillustrated in Fig. 1,metallic bars 50, 5O depend from the front and rear rails 1, 1, thelower ends ofthe bars being connected by abrace rod 51, as many of suchrods as required for strength being secured to the rails 1. A pluralityof properly placed guard rods 52, extendbetween and are secured, at eachend to the brace rods 51, throughout and beyond the length of the chain.The ends of the rails 3 extend outwardly beyond and above the end bracerods51, guard rods 53,'having eyelets sur-;

rounding the, brace rods 51, and having their outer ends connected byaflat plate 54, form apivotally mounted gate. A cable is secured to theplate 54 and extends over a pulley mounted on the end rails 1, 1, intoof which .is removable to give access to the chains for purposesofrepairs, replacements,

etc.

Rudders der is provided with a shaft, 61 journaled in a rail 1 asshown,and cables 62 are connected'to an arm 63 on the shaft 61, the cablesextending into the cabin B, con- I venient to the "operator.

This en tire structureis clearly shown in Figs. 10'

are "placed fore and aft on each side of the boat-,{ and infrontand atthe rear of each chain battery; Each rud- From t'heiforegoing it willbeclear that we have provided aboat structure equipped with a battery ofendless chain propelling mechanismson each side, each chain of eachbattery beingsusceptibleof operation in any direction, separatelytensed, or so vertically flexed that it may be elevated out of theWater, and being provided also with addi tional means for longitudinallyadjusting the slack. In addition theretowe have pro-' vided a cable forsupporting each chain, in

combination with instrumentalities automatically maintainingthe propertension on each. cable." Part of the work of a boat as herein, describedwill be performed in i the waters of shallow tributaries of the mainin-' land waterways, the boat being employed as a tow for -a pluralityof barges. Such small creeks or rivers are incapable of comme'i cia lnavigation, except Withboats ofshallow draft, and great powery andunless'the' boats are provided with means I for overcoming:

the various conditions incident to navigation, in such waters. i

A boat'for the service asabove described, should be capable of movementin either direction, "therefore the boat as just described must beequipped withmeans for reversing the direction of travel of its chains.It must be able'to' turn within very restricted limits, I and We havetherefore 'provided'our boat with means whereby any one or more chainsof battery on one side thereof may be run-v I ning in one direction,While any one or more chains of the-"battery on the opp'osite side mayberunningin a reverse direction." 7 Such operationwould obviously tend toabruptly swing the boat around, both rudders being properly positionedIn certain instances one or more of the paddles 14 may be acci dentlybroken off, resulting in a decreased efliciency of a battery on one sideof the boat. .2

To cover suchlf contingencies, we have pro vided the shafts 34, 35 and36, with the associated gears 37in mesh with the gears 33 carried on theshafts 32,219, explained; The bearing slots in the posts 8 are of suchvert1- cal length that the blocks 31 mayris'e in said slots to suchaheight as to lift the sheaves27 above'and off the lower fiight of thechain. Under such circumstances the 'shaft'23 is rotated to pushthe'sprocket' wheel 12 rearwardly. Such movement manifestly causes apartial yrever'se rotation of the wheel 12, since the upper flight ofthe chain is rigidly heldagainst longitudinal movement by the Wheel9'a'nd the idlers .26, and the'parts are so proportioned thatthefwhe'el12 may be I moved rearwardly toan extent sufficient to liftthepaddles of the lower flight entirely outof the water. 1 Themotor drivingthis ch'ain'isg of course out i of operation at this time, andany/broken'paddle iseasy'of iacc'e'ss i for repair,flby lifting theplates '54.

It is important "to protect the chains'll 13.0

against the drift-wood which floats on the water, and we have thereforeprovided the guard structure as clearly shown 'in Fig. 1. Each ofthegates :54 may be raised and lowdles 14. In the navigation of shallowrivers containing Vmany alluvial deposits of sand or silt, when the rods52 contact such. deposits 7 they cutlong; furrows therein, therebyloosening the depositsand permitting them to bev washed out by the swiftflow of water-under the. chains. A i

The rudders are placed within the guard housings,'one-neareach'end of,each chain.

battery. Such location not only protects the rudders from injury, butlocates them as nearly as feasible towards .the ends of-the 7 boat,where they will be most effective.

In actualpracticethe rods.52,and 53Vmay.

be made detachable" if desired, ,by providing '7 "them with screwthreads at the .ends, adapting them tov be connected to threads inapertures provided in the brace rods 51, and in theplates 54, aturnbuckle being provided in the length of each rod 1. Under thesecircumstances a: broken rod could be quickly I replaced.

I dles.

sead urr e 'd a .t1w 2 m n. o fhe l te l. .:A explained at length in the.Baer, patent No, 1,452,059 heretofore referred to, great advantages!are. derivable from the use of perforated paddles for boat propulsion.By-

the prevention of cavitation, becausea -cer-' tam amount of water passesthrough one paddle to'feed the next paddle, a chain composed of aplurality of'perforated paddles may run at maximum efliciency in asmaller solid paddles. In so far as we are aware, we are the. firstinthe art's-to provide'a drive mechanism equipped withperforateclpaddles, in combination with a-grating or guard completelysurroundingfthe mechanism.

For manyyears the extreme desirability of a protectingguard aroundandjben'eath boat 7 driving means, has been generally recognized. Suchguards have hitherto been considered commercially impracticable however,

because. the guard always prevented access ofa certainamount of water tothe propelling mechanisms, resulting in an unsatisfactorypower ratio inproportion to the expanded energy. Adrivechain suchas herein described,can operate at maximum efiis ciency in from 10 to lesswater than can achain or a wheel equipped with solid pad- Consequently, assuming that"the oflfrom 10 to 15% timer, we have 'pro- I vided adrive mechanismcapable of developing maximum power, and guarded at, all po nts againstinjury to thecpaddlesoby drift wood floating on the water, "oriby'obstruc tions on the'bed of the river.

Modifications of the herein disclosed strucchains, means for selectivelydriving-any chain on eitheraside inany direction longitudinally of theboat, a rudderpositioned at each end'of each battery, and a perforateguard member on each side completely enclosing, the immersed portion ofthe chains of each battery. and the associated rudders.

2.,A boat provided on each side with a propeller chain, an endless cablesupporting each chain along its upper flight, and means forregulatingthetension of said chain.

3. A boat provided on each side witha propeller chain, an endless cablesupporting each chain along its upper flight, and means automaticallymaintaining the tension on said cable. 7 I

4. A boat provided on each side with a propeller'chain, an endless cablesupporting each chain along its upperflight, means for regulating thetension on each chain, and

means automatically maintainingthe ten slon on each cable. p

5.A boat prov1ded on each side with a battery. comprising a pluralityof-propeller chains, an endless cable-supporting each chain alongitsupper flight,- means for selectively ad usting the tension of any chainin .a'battery, and means automatically maintainingthe tension of eachcable.

volume of water than would be required for maximum efficiency of a;chain composed of 6. A .boatprovided on each side'with a chains, anendless cable supporting each chain along its upper flight, means'forsel-ec I tively adjusting the tension of any chain in a battery, meansautomatically maintaining the tension of each cable, and a rudderoperatively mounted at each end'of each battery. 1

7. A boat provided on each side with a battery comprising apluralityofpropeller chains, an endless cable supporting each chainalong its upper-flight, means'for, selectively ,adjustingvthe tension ofanychain ina battery, means automatically mamtam- 7 ing the tens onof'each cable, a rudder operatively mounted ateach end of each battery,

and a perforate guard completely enclosing the immersed'portion of thechains of each battery and is associated rudders. V c

8. A-boat provided on each side with a battery comprising a plurality ofpropeller.

chains, an endless cable supporting each chain along its upper flight,means for selectively adjusting the tension of any chain in a battery,means automatically maintaining the tenson of each cable, a rudderoperative ly mounted at each end of each battery, and a foraminous guardcompletely enclosing each battery and its associated rudders, said guardbeing provided at each end with a pivotally mounted gate. a

9. A boat provided with an endless propeller chain, a plurality of idlerrollers adapted to support said chain along its upper flight, an endlesscable mounted for travel in parallelism with said chain and over saidrollers, said cable operating to support the upper flight of the chainbetween the rollers, and means for automatically maintaining thetensionon said cable.

10. A boat provided with a propeller chain carried by a frame, aplurality of idler rollers mounted on said frame and adapted to supportthe upper flight of said chain, a tension roller mounted in a slidingbearing located below the plane ofsaid chain, a

cable trained over said idler rollers and under said tension roller, andmeans resisting upward movement of said tension roller.

11. A boat provided with a propeller chain carried by a frame, aplurality of idler tension roller mounted in a slidingbearing locatedbelow the plane of said chain, a cable trained over said idler rollersand under said tension roller, means resisting upward movement of'saidtension roller, said means comprising a coil-ed spring exerting adownward pressure upon the'bearing of said roller. I a

12. A boat provided with a propeller chain. carried by a frame, aplurality of idler rollers mounted on said frame and adapted to supportthe upper flight of said chain, a tension roller mounted'in a slidingbearing located below the plane of said chain,

a cable trainedoover said idler rollers and under said tension roller,means resisting upward movement ofsaid tension roller, said meanscomprlslng a coiled spring exerting a downward pressurev upon thebearing of said roller, and means for regu lating the pressure Of'SalClspring.

In testimony whereofiwe aflix our signatures. I p

- CARL J. BAER. I

CARL F. JEFFRIES,

